The Bomber Mafia

Wow, just wow. What a book. I read this one in maybe ~3 days. I mean Malcom Galdwell hits another out of the park with this book. I really didn’t know what to expect going into it. I had heard about this book from some podcast, in a quick clip and thought it sounded like a cool premise. I knew Malcom Gladwell was the author and figured it couldn’t go wrong.

The bomber mafia and I almost have to describe what it’s about in order for this review and my enthusiasm to make any sense. It’s tell the story about how a group of pilots in the USA literally changed airfare and warfare as we know it today. There was a line in a the book that described, a revolution is created through conversation and expressing ideas. I never really thought it like that, but the more I sat on this line it made me really think.

Anyway the book tells the story of this group of pilots who strategically thought about how to use planes and bombs in ware like never before. Instead of randomly bombing for destruction, they wanted to precisely place bombs, at important locations for a country and take them out more efficiently. Thus ending wars sooner, and with less causalities. As with any story and revolution, many of the generals ways of thinking just didn’t comprehend how this can be a useful way of fighting.

One last important invention to take note of, because I never heard of this in an history lesson, class, or show was the Norden Bombsight. This bombsight was probably the single most important invention for the war, and I cannot believe how much recognition this doesn’t receive. A sight that was used by bombers to calculate precisely dropping a bomb on a target, all developed by Carl Norden. He, produced these calculations and formulas for how this, 55 pound device, was able to accurately drop a bomb on a moving target. Without this the war might have been totally different, and the Bomber Mafia would not have been able to succeed.

I am not one for history books, history, or even anything involving war. It just doesn’t interest me, so if you are looking for a history book though, this isn’t the one for you. This uses a little history to tell how people came together to make decisions and form ideas that shaped how & what we did in WWII. It’s a really interesting read to hear that perspective rather than just a history lesson.

It’s a quick and easy 10 chapters, but so fuckin interesting. Definitely worth a read, can’t stress that enough.